


cruel world, cruel things.

by wookiees



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Nathan Seeks Guidance From The Wrong Person, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Teacher-Student Relationship, What else is new?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-13 23:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10523958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wookiees/pseuds/wookiees
Summary: Kate could have fallen and crashed and died and took all of the evidence with her. It would officially be written down as a suicide for the viral video. A tragedy. Nobody would suspect the Dark Room, the Prescotts, him. And as slowly as her rotting skin, it’d have been like this never happened.





	

**Author's Note:**

> set right before the scene in principal wells office where you have the option to blame nathan, david or mr. jefferson for kate's suicide attempt. nathan seeks out mark jefferson for some reassurance. needless to say he doesn't exactly find what he's looking for.
> 
> title from http://bit.ly/2nYIxf3

When Kate Marsh’s porcelain features peered out from over the ledge on top of the Prescott Dormitory, Nathan felt as though the torrential downpour brought with it a sense of relief. He allowed it to wash over him, paying no mind to the uncomfortable sensation of his jacket, soaked with rain, clinging to his skin. The only thing that registered with him in those moments was the fact that, if Kate Marsh jumped, she’d take all the evidence with her. And Nathan could wash his hands of all of this. At least until the next time.

That fleeting few minutes of calm was shattered the moment she turned her back from the ledge. And just like that, the panic overtook him once more. Nathan vanished from the crowd before he could witness Max and Kate emerging from the dorm building unscathed. Paramedics nearly bowled him over as he made his way out toward the front of the school. Eventually, the faculty must've ushered students away from the scene because slowly they started to trickle out onto the front lawn again. He felt his phone buzz in the pocket of his jacket and didn't need to look to know that it was a email from the school.

_Class was cancelled for the rest of the day._

Not long after, Nathan had found himself pacing the school parking lot, muttering reassurances to himself under his breath. And, not long after that, once the crowds had dispersed, Nathan made his way into the main building. His oxfords thudding across the tile floors, he headed straight towards the faculty offices, mumbling the number of each room that he passed. Finally, he found the one he was looking for— the biggest office available, as had been part of the deal Sean Prescott made to get him to teach here— Nathan didn’t care enough to knock before throwing open the door.

And there was Mark Jefferson. His silhouette was outlined by the faint rays of sunlight that had just now started to push through the grey clouds of the late afternoon storm. He made no indication that he was aware of Nathan's presence as he continued to gaze out at the courtyard, hands folded behind his back.

Nathan shut the door behind him just as loudly as he'd opened it, attempting to further make his presence known, and pushed forward to stand in the center of the room. He waited, expectantly. 

“Now is not a good time,” Mark didn’t turn to face him as he spoke. “If I were you, I’d go back to my dorm. Like everyone else.”

“Don’t—” Nathan stopped himself, crushing the words with his teeth before they formed into the full sentence that had become his adage. _Don’t tell me what to do._ There was no point in covering up his panic with biting rage and mouthy comment. Not when it came to Mark Jefferson, at least. He rolls his shoulders back and sucks in a shaky breath.

“There’s not going to be a good time. Kate Marsh just tried to fucking kill herself in front of the whole school. We need to talk.” Nathan's voice wavers, betraying him. There was definitely no masking how terrified he was. “ _Now_.”

Mark turned around in time to see him in all of his panic, how it showed in his pale blue eyes and in the tremble of his voice. Without a word, Jefferson understood what he was saying.

_They lost their chance._

Kate could have fallen and crashed and died and took all of the evidence with her. Everyone would have slowly forgotten about her and she’d fade away. It would officially be written down as a suicide for the viral video. _A tragedy._ Nobody would suspect the dark room, the Prescotts, him. And as slowly as her rotting skin, it’d have been like this never happened. 

The rain pelted against the windowpane and Mark’s glasses gleamed. 

“Sure, Nathan. What do you want to talk about? What’s your bright idea? Because I know for a fact you didn’t come here to tell me something I already know.” He didn’t sound nervous, just frustrated.

“No, I—I didn’t.” Nathan fumbles over his words, eyes trained on Mr. Jefferson as he moves from the window to stand behind his desk. “I— _Shit…_ ” 

_What did he even come in here for?_

They had established their own set of rules. And, right now, he was breaking the most important one. He even wasn’t supposed to act like he knew Mark Jefferson as anything more than his teacher. Much less actively seek him out after school hours. Nathan grinds his teeth and looks down, nervously.

Somewhere in the dimly lit recesses of his mind, Nathan thought that Mr. Jefferson would extend a bit of solace to him after what had just happened. He had a bad habit of forming those kinds of delusions about the nature of their relationship but the hollow look in his eyes was well accounted for. And it told him all he needed to know. Nathan would find no comfort here.

“I understand. You’re nervous because Kate saw you." Jefferson states, his mouth set in a firm line. He's perfectly aware that a real answer to his question will never come. "And now she can point you out. If you did your job right, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

The tension leaves Nathan's jaw. He snaps his head up, eyes wild.

“Fuck you! You know why I lowered her dose! After what happened last time—” _No._ He couldn't think about Rachel. He was already set off like a powder keg. Memories of that night would only send him over the edge. Luckily, Mark doesn't give him the chance to before cutting him off. 

"We don't bring that up!"

“I didn’t want Kate dead. I just— Fuck. _Fuck!_ "

"And she isn't."

With clenched fists and shoulders shaking, Nathan's foot collides with a filing cabinet. The impact causes it to rattle loudly. He lets out an anguished grunt before practically throwing himself down onto one of the plush arm chairs positioned opposite of Jefferson's desk. He hunches over, holding his head in his hands. 

"And what if they do know that I was the one who drugged Kate? You said the whole faculty has seen the video.” Nathan looks back up into the faint glare of Jefferson's glasses. And while, verbally, he doesn't ask for it, the look in his eyes begs him for some sort of guidance. He felt as though he'd backed himself into a corner. He needed someone to coax him out of it. 

“They’ll be gathering evidence and say it was me. And you’re just going to let me take the fall, right? Let them believe it's all my fault?” 

“I suggest you calm down." _And stop looking so guilty._ "And instead of taking things into your own hands you might want to start listening for a change."

A brief pause stretches between them. Nathan slumps forward and fixes his gaze with the pattern in the carpet. He attempts to calm himself but with the silence being punctured by the incessant ticking of a clock somewhere in the room, he finds it impossible. Meanwhile, the gears in Mr. Jefferson's head have begun to click and turn

"We stick to the plan. We can’t touch Kate unless we want to draw more attention, so don’t go out trying to fix things. I don’t want to hear you did anything because you were desperate. You can do that. Can’t you?" 

“Sure. _Fine._ Alright.” Nathan rambles off words of confirmation like a mantra. It's a half-hearted promise at best but it seems to be good enough for Mark Jefferson. For now.

“As for the video, everyone’s already seen it. Including some of Arcadia’s finest. As far as they’re concerned? She had too much to drink and even if she attended one of your parties it doesn’t mean they know you drugged her." He adds, "But given that they do, her story isn’t going to say much. She was under the influence— Not exactly my idea of _reliable_."

Mark closes his eyes, thinking things through and for the quickest second, pictures Kate splattered over the ground. He opens them again. “If anyone starts pointing fingers, play it cool. If they suspect anything, it’s only going to be pushed as a drug case and if you don’t mess up anymore than you already have, it’ll stay that way.” 

The Prescott family will have a hand in making it all go away. At least he relied on that. He looked down at Nathan’s crumpled form, his eyes narrowed. “But we have something else on our hands. Word is that Max Caulfield saw you with a gun. Something you’re not telling me?” 

At the mention of Max, Nathan plasters a scowl onto his features and straightens in his seat. When he thinks back on it, everything really started fall apart around him when she showed up. It was as though she were catalyst. Almost everywhere he went, she was there, sticking her nose in places it didn't belong. Somehow she knew too much and nothing at all at the same time. _Of all people,_ Nathan thinks, _I want her dead the most._

“Max thinks she’s onto something but that bullshit was unrelated to anything we’re doing.” A breathy laugh escapes him as Nathan folds his arms across his chest. He's lying and that was his tell.

If he hadn’t drugged Chloe in his dorm in a poor attempt to prove himself, it wouldn’t have escalated into her trying to blackmail him for Prescott cash and he wouldn’t have been scared into pulling his pistol on her. He couldn’t tell Mark Jefferson that he went out on his own and screwed up. Nathan couldn't bare to disappoint him again. “That makes it my business. _Not yours._ "

Mark slams a fist against the desktop. The sound causes Nathan to visibly flinch and he locks eyes with him. They’re alight with fear. 

“No, Nathan. It doesn't.” His tone is grating and Nathan shrinks away from it. “Your business is my business. And, this might come as a surprise— _I know_ — But I can tell when you’re lying. So drop the act and tell me what’s going on. Who knows. It might even make things easier in the long run.” 

He steps out from behind the desk and stands aside Nathan, looking down at him. 

“But, if it’s too much for you to say, I understand. I only wish I could say the same for everyone.” _Like Sean._ They were both going to find out eventually.

His stance was meant to be intimidating and juxtapose to Nathan, who's perpetually slouched and twitching, the message is clear. _Fess up. Or worse._

"I— I drugged this girl— _Chloe._ She went to Blackwell but she dropped out." Nathan starts but he can tell by the impatient look on Mark Jefferson's face that he's not interested in backstory. Once more, he casts his eyes to the ground. His leg begins to shake.

"You wanted me to start getting things done on my own. So, I— _you know_ — But the dose was too low and she came through and ran out of my fucking dorm. I thought she'd leave it alone but she tried to blackmail into giving her cash to keep quiet about the whole thing. I brought the gun to threaten her. And that would've been it but Max was snooping around in the fucking bathroom with us and saw the whole thing!"

He could no longer feel his hands over the desk. He could only focus on Nathan. _Nathan, eager to prove himself, drugging and dragging a girl to his dorm with his bruised, shaky hands only to find out she was awake._ Now he’s being blackmailed, watched, and Max saw him pull out a gun. She’d never let that go. Neither could Mark.

"Since we’re having this talk— Why am I not surprised? If you can’t do anything right while I’m around, how do you figure you'll do it right on your own?" He expected Nathan to be looking down at the floor. He should be looking up at _him_. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were doing this on purpose. Because, frankly, you have to try to be this useless. And I’m sure you’re tired of hearing this, but I’m starting to wonder if wasting my time is the only thing you’re good at.”

"Fuck you." He croaks. Whatever fire was burning inside Nathan earlier had been snuffed out. Any and all ferocity was gone from his eyes. Now he appeared rather like one of those wounded animals he was so fond of photographing. 

Mark's reaction is the one he'd been expecting but that doesn't make it hurt any less. _Isn't it enough that he'd tried? Will it ever be enough?_

If Mark wasn’t going to let Nathan take the fall for what happened with Kate before. Then that was almost certainly his plan now. He can feel that familiar pressure at the root of his nose and the sting of tears welling up in the corners of his eyes but he's not going to cry. Especially not in front of _him_. His fingers dig into the arm of the chair, knuckles turning white. He holds it back. 

Mark Jefferson tactfully ignores his insolence. Not as a favor to Nathan. No, at the moment, there are far bigger things at stake. Too much to be worrying about Nathan's level of propriety. Though, he's well aware of the fact that, if he had any to begin with, they might not have even found themselves in this position. Max was getting deep. Chloe was awake and knew what happened. She must have told Max, and now they were getting involved, suspecting Nathan, even asking about Rachel and Kate. That meant they were getting closer to him. 

“As you probably guessed, we can’t have Max and Chloe walking away.” _Like Rachel never walked away._

"Wait—" Nathan looks up, startled by the implication. He stands, abruptly. " _We can't kill them!_ What happened to no one getting hurt?" 

__

__

"Then it's as I said; this is a responsibility that seems to have fallen unto your shoulders, Nathan." He clasps a hand to Nathan's shoulder, tight-gripped. It's by no means a warm gesture. "For right now, it seems we're still out of the woods. If Max's evidence against you is purely circumstantial, then it's your word against her's. Whether that remains the case will rely entirely on how you proceed from here. And since lying seems to be the one thing you're good at, I'm sure you'll be able to handle this little problem you've caused just fine. You don't want anyone else getting hurt? Then get your act together." 

As soon as Mark releases his grip, the sound of the school's intercom system crackles above them. Nathan looks up as if waiting to hear the voice of god but Mark has already headed back towards his spot at the window. The all too familiar voice of Ray Wells echoes through the hallways.

"Will Nathan Prescott and Mr. Jefferson please report to my office immediately?" A brief pause and then for clarification he repeats himself. "Nathan Prescott and Mr. Jefferson, report to my office immediately."

"Sounds as though it's time for the moment of truth." He says, dismissively.

Nathan remains still. It's not the first time he's been called up to the principal's office and it probably won't be the last. And yet, a pit has formed in his stomach and his legs feel like lead, weighing him to that exact spot in Jefferson's office. He opens his mouth to say something but Mark Jefferson must've expected to hear the sound of Nathan leaving by now because he turns back around, "Why are you still standing there? _Go._ It'll look suspicious if we arrive together."

He sets his jaw, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, as he makes for the door. But Nathan barely gets a toe outside the office before Mr. Jefferson is calling over his shoulder again, "And Nathan?"

"Yes, Mark?"

"It would be in your best interest not to disappoint me anymore."


End file.
